The invention is based on an operating appliance for high-pressure discharge lamps as claimed in the precharacterizing clause of claim 1. The invention in this case relates in particular to a device and to a method for controlling an operating appliance for high-pressure discharge lamps, whose polarity is reversed at regular intervals. A particular feature in this case is the magnitude of overshoots which are initiated by the polarity reversal process. Since the literature also contains the expression very-high-pressure discharge lamp, it should expressly be mentioned that the expression high-pressure discharge lamps in the following text also covers very-high-pressure discharge lamps and the like.
The so-called square-wave operating mode is widely used for electronic operating appliances for high-pressure discharge lamps (also referred to as a lamp in the following text). In this case, a direct current is applied to the lamp, and its polarity is reversed at regular intervals. The polarity reversal is necessary in order to avoid electrophoresis effects and to load each electrode in the lamp uniformly.
The direct current is generally provided by a pulsed power supply. These pulsed power supplies are generally based on known topologies such as step-down converters (Buck), step-up converters (Boost), inverse converters (Buck-Boost), Cxc3xak or Sepic converters. The voltage which is supplied to the pulsed power supply is generally higher than the voltage on the lamp, so that a step-down converter is preferably used. The power which the pulsed power supply can provide for a load can generally be adjusted by the duty ratio or the switching frequency of electronic switches which are contained in the pulsed power supply. For this purpose, the pulsed power supply has a control input at which a manipulated variable is fed in. If, by way of example, the pulsed power supply is a step-down converter, then a pulse width modulator (PWM) is generally used, which converts the manipulated variable to a drive signal for the electronic switch which is contained in the step-down converter.
The document EP 1 148 768 (Huber) describes a regulation for an operating appliance of this type.
The aim of regulation is to keep the lamp power constant. This is done by forming a set variable, in the form of a current set value, as a function of the lamp voltage. This current set value is compared with a control variable in a regulating device which essentially contains a control amplifier and an adder.
The control variable is provided by a measurement device and is a measure of the current emitted by the pulsed power supply. This current can generally be equated to an inductor current of an inductor which is contained in the pulsed power supply. The measurement device is preferably in the form of a current measurement resistance through which the current which the pulsed power supply emits flows. The regulating device provides a manipulated variable, which is supplied to the control input of the pulsed power supply. This results in regulation of the high-frequency inductor current ( greater than 20 kHz) of the inductor which is contained in the pulsed power supply. Two methods for doing this are generally known: presetting the peak current through the inductor (Peak Current Mode) or presetting the mean current through the inductor (Average Current Mode). Until now, the peak current mode has been preferred since it requires less circuitry complexity and inherently limits the inductor current. In order to make it possible to supply a direct current on which as little alternating current as possible is superimposed, the pulsed power supply is followed by a filter network, which generally comprises an LC low-pass filter which contains a filter inductor and a filter capacitor.
For polarity reversal, a polarity reversal network is connected between the pulsed power supply and the lamp. This has a polarity reversal signal input at which a polarity reversal signal is fed in. This allows a control device to reverse the polarity of the lamp voltage, by means of the polarity reversal signal. The polarity reversal network is generally in the form of a full bridge, which contains four semiconductor switches with an associated drive device.
In order to start the lamp, a starting transformer is connected between the pulsed power supply and the lamp and provides a starting voltage before operation of the lamp. A resonant network, comprising an LC resonant circuit, is frequently also connected between the pulsed power supply and the starting transformer, in order to increase the achievable starting voltage.
The described configuration of an operating appliance under discussion conceals the following problem: energy storage devices (starting transformer, resonant network, filter network) are connected between the pulsed power supply and the lamp and, together, they form a reactance network. Together with the lamp, the reactance network forms a load circuit which is caused to oscillate whenever a polarity reversal process takes place. A constant light flux is required, in particular, for use in projection appliances. The polarity reversal process must therefore on the one hand be carried out as quickly as possible, while on the other hand overshoots of the lamp current, and hence of the light flux, during polarity reversal must be kept as low as possible. The control structure described in the prior art produces overshoots which have a disturbing effect in projection applications.
The object of the present invention is to provide an operating appliance for operation of high-pressure discharge lamps as claimed in the precharacterizing clause of claim 1, and a method for operation of high-pressure discharge lamps as claimed in the precharacterizing clause of claim 11, which reverses the polarity of the lamp current with overshoots that are less than those in the prior art.
This object is achieved by an operating appliance and an operating method for operation of high-pressure discharge lamps having the features of the precharacterizing clause of claims 1 and 11, respectively, by means of the features of the characterizing part of claims 1 and 11, respectively. Particularly advantageous refinements can be found in the dependent claims.
The set variable is normally preset by the user of a system and does not change unless the user changes his requirements for the system. Assuming a constant lamp voltage, the set variable for the lamp current is equally predetermined and is constant in the prior art. The stated precondition is generally true since the lamp voltage varies only very slowly during operation, in comparison to the time intervals between polarity reversals.
According to the invention, the set variable is reduced by a reduction value with a time profile, in synchronism with the polarity reversal and hence in synchronism with the switching signal. The intention of this reduction is to stimulate oscillation in the energy storage devices in the abovementioned reactance network, which counteracts the overshoots caused by the polarity reversal. Ideally, the overshooting is compensated for exactly according to the invention. If the manipulated variable follows the set variable only very slowly, for example by means of a control amplifier which operates essentially as an integrator, for example in a time period which lasts for longer than one microsecond, then it is advantageous to reduce the manipulated variable directly, rather than reducing the set variable. The following statements therefore also apply in the same sense to a reduction in the manipulated variable.
Since at least one microsecond passes between the start of the reduction and any reaction in the reactance network, it is advantageous for the reduction to start even before the control device emits the polarity reversal signal. Practical experiments have shown that it is advantageous to start the reduction at least one microsecond before the output of the polarity reversal signal.
The optimum duration, form and amplitude of the time profile of the reduction are dependent on the characteristics of the load circuit, in particular on its step-function response. In this context, the expression step-function response is intended to mean the reaction of a network, as is known from system theory, to a sudden change in an input variable. A step function "sgr"(t) is generally defined for this purpose, which assumes the value 0 before a time t=0 and then jumps to the value 1 at the time t=0 where it remains.
In the case of the operating appliances under discussion, the polarity reversal represents a step-function change in an input voltage to the load circuit, which reacts with its step-function response. The overshoots resulting from this step-function response are compensated for, according to the invention, by reducing the set variable.
Experiments have shown that the reduction must last for at least 10 microseconds after the polarity reversal in order to achieve the effect according to the invention.
It has also been shown that the reduction should start quickly and should decay slowly for the effect according to the invention. If the reduction has a pulsed time profile, this means that the fall time of the pulse must be at least three times as long as the rise time of the pulse. The following relationship is intended to verify the mathematical signs: a positive value for the reduction leads to a reduction in the set value.
It has also been shown that, with regard to the objective of the invention, it is advantageous for the reduction to remain constantly at its maximum value for a dwell time.
The amount of energy which is stored in the energy storage devices in the reactance network influences the step-function response of the load circuit. According to the invention, the amplitude of the reduction is therefore matched to the amount of energy stored in the energy storage devices in the reactance network. This is done, according to the invention, by choosing the maximum value of the reduction as a function of a lamp operating variable. For example, the current through the lamp (lamp current) is a measure of the energy stored inductively in the reactance network. The lamp voltage can also be detected instead of the lamp current, for a given lamp power.
It has been shown that the compensation according to the invention for overshoots, in particular in the lamp current, is optimum when the minimum value of the set variable which is achieved during the reduction is always the same. Since the set variable can assume different values without any reduction, the amplitude of the reduction is accordingly governed by the difference between the set value without any reduction and the constant minimum value of the set variable.
As stated above, the optimum time profile of the value of the reduction (reduction value (t)) is dependent on the step-function response of the load circuit. It has been shown that, in the simplest case, the load circuit can be modeled by a series circuit containing an equivalent inductance and an equivalent resistance. The equivalent inductance can be described approximately by the sum of the inductances contained in the reactance network. The equivalent resistance corresponds to the ratio of the lamp voltage to the lamp current at the respective lamp operating point. In the simplified model, the reduction value now ideally follows the following law:
reduction value (t)="sgr"(t)Aexe2x88x92t/xcfx84
where "sgr"(t) describes the unit step function, A indicates a maximum value of the reduction, and the time constant xcfx84 indicates the ratio of the equivalent load inductance to the equivalent load resistance. In practice, the reduction value cannot follow the abovementioned law exactly. At the time t=0, the reduction value would need to rise infinitely quickly to a start value. The reduction value would also need to act for an infinitely long time. Neither of these is feasible. It is thus sufficient for the reduction value to essentially follow the abovementioned law; that is to say to have a finite rise time and to fall to the value zero after a finite time.
As described above, a generally known step-down converter is preferably used for the pulsed power supply. It has been found that the overshoots under discussion are particularly small if the step-down converter is operated in the so-called average current mode. This is described, for example, in L. H. Dixon, xe2x80x9cAverage Current Mode Control of Switching Power Suppliesxe2x80x9d, Unitrode Power Supply Seminar Manual, 1990.
The use of microcontrollers for the operating appliances according to the invention has been found to be advantageous. Both the regulating device and the control device may be formed by a microcontroller. It is particularly advantageous in this case for empirically determined values, for example the relationship between the dwell time and the time constant xcfx84 of the lamp current, to be stored in the form of tables in the microcontroller. The table values are read during operation of the lamp, so that the overshoots in the lamp current, and hence in the light flux, are thus optimized continuously.
Rather than storing the empirically obtained relationships in tables, it is also possible to carry out a mathematical approximation, for example a polynomial approximation. The microcontroller can thus, for example, calculate the dwell time and the time constant xcfx84 as a function of a measured lamp current. This makes it possible to set intermediate values, which are not recorded in a table, without any problems. Furthermore, the characteristics of the operating appliance can be set by programming a small number of parameters, which are obtained from the mathematical approximation.
A method according to the invention can also be controlled by a microcontroller. For this purpose, the microcontroller first of all reduces the given set value by a stored maximum reduction value. After a programmable time, it produces the signal for polarity reversal. After the dwell time, the microcontroller halves the reduction value a number of times using a predetermined halving clock cycle. This makes it possible to simulate the abovementioned exponential function law. The halving clock cycle in this case represents the time constant xcfx84. At the latest when the reduction, as a result of the continuous halving process, has reached a value which is less than the resolution capability of the microcontroller, the reduction process is terminated, and is repeated during the next polarity reversal.
The reduction in overshoots according to the invention also has an advantageous effect on the generation of acoustic oscillations in the components of the operating appliance. Operating appliances according to the invention emit considerably less disturbance noise than operating appliances according to the prior art.